Mobile wireless communication devices such as cellular telephones, smart phones, and other handheld and portable devices have become extremely widespread and often include many features and capabilities beyond those associated with mere voice communication. Such features can include e-mail messaging, text messaging, audio players, cameras, video games, Internet browsers, and so on. As more features are added to these devices, the efficient and effective use of these features of the mobile device becomes an issue. Further, as more features are added, more content is generated to be stored on the mobile device, including content such as a call log, a contact list, a calendar, a notes section, task information, text messages, email messages, and photographs, audio, and video media files. The efficient and effective use of the mobile device also requires that this digital content be managed in some way. Further, it is often desirable that much of this content be backed up and/or synchronized between the mobile device, a personal computer, and perhaps one or more Internet storage sites.
One prior art method for managing the content of a mobile device involves the use of a content management software application that is resident on a personal computer. When the mobile device is connected to the personal computer, the software application accesses the desired content and provides the management tools to manage that content. However, such content management software applications are typically generic, often providing capabilities for many types and makes of mobile devices, and typically require software updates which may not be relevant to a particular type of mobile device owned by a user. Further, the use of such a software application requires that a connection be made with the particular personal computer on which it is loaded, precluding the use of other personal computers for management purposes.
Another method for managing the content of a mobile device involves the use of a content management software application that is resident on a remote server. Thus access to any content stored on the mobile device requires that a connection be established between the mobile device and the remote server, and this is problematic if no Internet connection is available, or if the connection is unable to handle a large amount of data in a reasonable time period. Further, a user may have privacy concerns regarding the downloading and storage of personal digital content at a remote server.
It is known to provide a mobile device with a web server, and allow access to the mobile device by a personal computer. However, currently such access requires a module in the mobile device to interface with a gateway server, which operates as a bridge to connect the personal computer and the phone via the Internet.
Therefore, an improved method for managing the content and/or operation of a mobile device which overcomes the above disadvantages would be beneficial.